An Action Research On Cultivating Creativity Of 5-6-Year-Old Children Based On STEM Concept Project-Based Learning Activities

With the continuous development of the information age and the increasing demand of the society for innovative talents,the cultivation of creativity has gradually become an important direction for the development of national education.The age of 3 to 6 year old is an important period for the development of children’s creativity.During this period,various intervention methods are used to cultivate children’s creativity,which is conducive to the improvement of children’s creativity and the cultivation of innovative talents.In recent years,STEM education and project-based learning activities have developed wel in kindergartens.Many kindergartens have begun to carry out relevant teaching practices and have accumulated certain experience in organization and implementation.STEM education and project-based learning activities begin to take effect on cultivating children’s creativity.By means of the project-based learning activities based on STEM concepts,the research aims to understand the basic situation and existing problems of children’s creativity development from the age of 5 to 6 years old,and explore effective strategies for fostering creativity in young children in action research with the aim of cultivating children’s creativity by using the method of action research.The author takes 22 children in the senior class of Kindergarten B in Xi’an as the research object,adopts the paradigm of action research,and selects 22 children in another class as the control group to carry out a one-year STEM project-based learning activity practice.Starting from the current situation of the development of children’s creativity in the experimental group of kindergarten B and existing problem in it,this study specifically analyzed the difficulties in cultivating children’s creativity through project-based learning activities based on the STEM concept,and carried out three-stage action research based on the above situation: The first stage-sorting out the implementation process of project activities,and exploring the organization and implementation strategy;the second stage-focusing on children’s operation practice,enriching materials and technical experience;the third stage-focusing on children’s cooperation and jointly improving the project results.At the same time,at the beginning and the end of the action research,pretest and post-test wil be carried out to examine the creativity level of the experimental group and the control group and the effect of the action research wil be verified through data analysis.After a one-year action study,it was found that the pretest and post-test scores of children’s creativity in the experimental group were significantly different by carrying out project-based learning activities based on STEM concepts,and the post-test scores of children’s creativity in the experimental group and the control group were also significantly different.It shows that STEM project-based learning activities can promote children’s creativity.Using STEM project-based learning activities to cultivate children’s creativity,on the one hand,it is necessary to strengthen the organization and implementation strategies of activities.Sufficient perception,experience,and exploration can help children accumulate more vivid experiences and provide rich materials for children to develop their creativity;On the one hand,we should pay attention to the important role of teaching tools,materials and technologies in the cultivation of children’s creativity;on the other hand,we should also emphasize the potential impact of peer cooperation on the development of children’s creativity.Through the cooperation of various aspects such as organizational strategy,material technology and peer cooperation,the cultivation of children’s creativity can be successfully stimulated.